All asylum seeker children to leave Nauru: Brandis

London: George Brandis has confirmed the Australian government is aiming to have all child asylum seekers off Nauru by the end of the year, after being grilled on an influential London radio station about Australia's treatment of refugees.

The former Attorney-General, now Australia's high commissioner to the United Kingdom, brushed aside repeated questions during his interview with Shelagh Fogarty on talkback station LBC and said there were "hardly any children" on the tiny Pacific island.

On Monday, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said there were 50 children left on the island and that his intention was to get that to zero, with 200 children having already been transferred to Australia.

Fairfax Media understands that, as of Thursday, that number had already fallen to below 40.

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Mr Brandis confirmed a target had been set to have all children removed by the end of the year.

George Brandis, Australia's high commissioner to the UK, said all children would be off Nauru by the end of the year.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"This is a problem that has largely gone away. There are hardly any children in Nauru and in New Guinea and we expect that by the end of this year there'll be none," he said.

Latika Bourke is a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age based in London. She has previously worked for Fairfax Media, the ABC and 2UE in Canberra. Latika won the Walkley Award for Young Australian Journalist of the Year in 2010.